Refuse disposal



.June 27, 1967 B. M. KoLLlNG BEFQSE DISPOSAL 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March lO, 1965 F/G, Z

June 27, 1967 B. M. KOLLING REFUSE DISPOSAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March lO, 1965 United States Patent O 3,327,876 REFUSE DISPOSAL Byron M. Kolling, 23 W026 Geneva Road, Glen Ellyn, Ill. 60137 Filed Mar. 10, 1965, Ser. No. 438,545 Claims. (Cl. 214-302) My invention relates to refuse collection and disposal and related arts and includes among its objects and advantages a material extension of the repertoire of refuse collection by large mobile vehicles.

Currently, mobile collection vehicles for garbage and other refuse are of several types, including the type in which the refuse is deposited in a bucket at the rear of the main chamber, or body, and then packed into the body by power. This type includes units in which the load is subsequently discharged by tipping the body, and those in which a pusher blade at the front end of the body positively expels the load. In either instance some means is essential for getting the bucket out of the way to let the load come out.

In my co-pending application Ser. No. 353,492, tiled Mar. 20, 1964, Patent No. 3,262,589, I have disclosed an adjustable rear gate adapted to cooperate with a variety of special refuse containers, all of which containers are specially designed for power loading from the ground. The gate is also adjustable to a position where it functions as a low-level shelf on which personnel can perch miscellaneous containers, and then overturn them into the mobile bucket.

There remains the problem of miscellaneous containers too heavy to be lifted up to the shelf by hand, and the more-frequent problem of removing refuse from basements and sub-basements.

' In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE l is a side elevation of the rear portion of a large refuse collector indicating the use of equipment according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged detail of the the combination of FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 3 isY a perspective of a unit of smaller capacity; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the attachment illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2.

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration in FIGURES 1 and 2, theconventional chamber or vehicle body is of relatively large capacity and two pairs of rear wheels 12 are needed to carry the load. The rear face of the body is open and terminates on a plane inclined forward from the vertical along the line of the rear panel beam 14. Pivoted at 16 close above the upper rear corner of the chamber is the bucket, indicated as a whole by the reference character 18. The bucket comprises spaced side Walls 20 dening a chamber with an arcuate bottom and tapering upward, and the entirety is rotatable aroundthe pivot 16, as by a hydraulic thrust piston 22 adapted to increase its length and swing the entire bucket up to the position indicated by the dotted line arrow 24.

The parts so far described are old in the art, per se, form no part of the present invention.

As disclosed in my co-pending application above mentioned, tension cable means are to be provided for pulling containers forward between guide plates 26 into contact with instrumentalities for engaging and overturning the containers.

According to the invention, I mount a framework, or housing, 28 on the downwardly inclined rear face of the bucket 18 in which I provide conventional power means for rotating the reel of a winch 28. The winch is provided with a conventional cable 32, which, when not in action,

novel parts of Patented June 27, 1967 may be conveniently kept from swinging around by hooking it into a suitable handle 34 by means of its terminal hook 36.

The primary function of the handle 34 is for the convenience of a workman standing on the control platform 38 (see FIGURE 1) while the vehicle is moving from one position to another. When the parts are to be used the operator steps down from shelf 38 to the ground and nds himself standing directly behind the control handle 40 pivoted at 42 for controlling the movement of the winch. I have indicated connections including a pitman 44 extending up to the frame 28 for conventional control of the mechanism to rotate the winch drum 30 by hydraulic power in either direction, or hold it stationary. I also provide conventional speed controls controllable by a pushbutton at 46. This enables the operator to control the speed of the winch and the direction of its movement with one hand, leaving the other hand free to exert force on the receptacle being loaded.

With all the various well-known types of receptacles designed to remain on the ground and to be filled by the householder with refuse, the operator can merely hook the hook 36 into the appropriate bale or handle of the container. A wide variety of containers suitable for such operations are old and well-known in the art and this description has not been encumbered with the details of the container. Miscellaneous containers not equipped for such cooperation can be lifted from the ground by hand and inverted to discharge their contents into the bucket, if they are not too heavy.

The invention includes further the use'of a detachable extension boom comprising spaced arms 48 extending yrearwardly from the winch to support an idler pulley 50. As clearly indicated in FIGURES 1 and 2 it is a simple matter to position the cable 32 over the pulley 5t) and let it hang down vertically where it can pick up such a container as 52, which might be a large ashcan positioned originally in a basement or sub-basement but having a handle 54 by means of which it can be picked up manually or by means of the hook. It will be obvious that when the container 52 is lifted just a little higher than the position illustrated in FIGURE 2 the operator can push horizontally on it and deflect the pendent parts forward enough to position the container 52 above the shelf in the bucket, after which the winch can be relaxed to let `the container down. In this way the entire physical labor of hoisting the container 52 to the position illustrated in the drawings and getting it onto the shelf requires from the operator only a maximum of effort amounting to a` minor fraction of the weight of the contents of the container. If the container is pushed forward until the cable 32 slants forward at an angle, the tangent of which is 1/s, the total force exerted by the operator will be 1/5 of the total weight of the container 52 and its contents.

This ease in loading is applicable to anything at all that can be hung on the hook 36, and an old packing box full of trash requires only a few feet of rope passed around it and the rope hooked over the hook 36 to be boosted up and emptied into the container by horsepower rather than by manpower.

It is convenient to have the extension arms 48 removable so that they can be laid aside or carried elsewhere on the vehicle at times when they are not needed. As indicated in FIGURE 2 the arms 48 take under a crossbeam at 54 and over a crossbeam further back and lower down at 56. These crossbeams are rigid with the tension connection 58 extending up to a pintle at 60. The entire bucket is pivoted for rotation around the same axis, as by a bracket 62 rigid with the body of the bucket and extending up to take over a pivot behind the pivot 60 on the same axis. Both pivots are provided with suitable y 3 supporting means on the main body 1t) such as a bracket 64 for the pintle 6i) and a heavier bracket 66 for the bucket.

It is noted that when the idler pulley 5t) is carrying the cable, the heaviest mechanical load involved comes up the cable and over to the drum of the winch where the torque is resisted by the beam 58.

When the cable 32 is pulling large containers from the ground the loads may be much greater, and at that time the beam 53 functions as a tension member to carry the cable tension directly up to the body through the bracket 64 so that these very heavy loads do not have to be carried through the structure of the bucket.

In FIGURE 3 I have illustrated a smaller and lighter construction, embodying the same features of novelty. The bucket of FIGURE 3 has side members 68 and alignment plates 70, corresponding to the plates 26 of FIG- URES 1 and 2, and illustrates the adjustable gate 72 in its raised position. The entirety of the structure illustrated adjoins the main body of the vehicle along the front members 74. Riser plates 76 support the ends of tubular crosspieces 78 and Sti which form the supporting frame for the winch 82. The extension boom is a triangular frame comprising the rearwardly converging tubes 84 with a crossbrace at 86, and the end Vshoes 88 shaped to overlie the outer ends of the tube 80 and to underlie the outer ends of the tube 78. As in the construction of FIGURES 1 and 2, when the extension boom is not to be used it can be simply lifted off and laid aside. When it is installed the cable 89 passes over the idler pulley 90 and carries the swivel hook 92 for picking up whatever there is that is not designed to be upended into the bucket by running the cable S8 direct from the ground container to the winch 82. t

In the heavier construction of FIGURES 1 and 2, the conventional frame comprises short cross pieces 54 and 56 rigidly united with the diverging members 58 (see FIGURE 4) and the ends of the cantilevers 48 take over the cross beam 56 and under the cross beam 54.

Others may readily adapt the invention for use under various conditions of service, by employing one or more of the novel features disclosed or equivalents thereof. For instance, if an occasional emergency calls for lifting a container 52 too heavy for the cantilever extensions to endure, a 2" by l2 plank set with its upper end under the cantilevers 48 just in front of the idler pulley 50, and its lower end on the ground, will take all the bending load otf the cantilevers 43. As at present advised, with respect to the apparent s-cope of my invention, I desire to claim the following subject matter:

1. The combination with a mobile vehicle for disposal of refuse, of the type comprising a body, or chamber, adapted to store packed refuse, and provided with conventional running gear, and a hopper, or bucket, juxtaposed to the rear end of said chamber; said hopper having a rear opening to receive the load, and a rear wall portion lower than the top of said body and above said rear opening; of a power-driven winch attachment mounted on said inclined wall portion above said rear opening and lower than the top of said body; and cable means connected to said winch to be activated thereby for pulling special individual containers from a position on the ground behind said opening into an inverted position for discharging the contents of the container into said hopper; said hopper being pivoted near the top rear corner of said body, and at the top front corner or point of said hopper; said winch having a separate tension connection pivotally connected to said body for rotation about the same axis as said hopper; whereby the mechanical loads due to tension on the cable are transmitted directly through said tension connection to the body itself and not through the hopper.

2. The combination with a mobile vehicle for disposal of refuse, of the type comprising a body, or chamber, adapted to store packed refuse, and provided with conventional running gear, and a hopper, or bucket, juxtaposed tothe rear end of said chamber; said hopper having a rear opening to receive the load, and a rear wall portion lower than the top of said body and directly above said rear opening; of a power-driven winch attachment mounted on said inclined wall portion above said rear opening and lower than the top of said body; cable means connected to said winch to be activated thereby for pulling special individual containers from a position on the ground behind said opening into an inverted position for discharging the contents of the container into said hopper; and a cantilever extension having a front end adapted to be fastened on said winch and extending rearwardly over said hopper; said extension, when in place, lying entirely below the level of the top of said body.

3. A combination according to claim 2 in which said cantilever extends rearwardly far enough to lift a container vertically just behind the lower portion of said hopper and up to the level of the lower edge of said rear opening; whereby the manual force required of the operator in -pushing the load into said rear hopper opening is reduced to a minor fraction of the weight of the load.

4. A combination according to claim 3 in which said winch carries a cable long enough to be lowered into a manhole or other opening, to pick up refuse in containers on a lower story, such `as a basement, sub-basement, or subway. Y

5. A combination according to claim 3 in which said winch carries a cable long enough to be lowered into a manhole or other opening, to pick up refuse in containers on a lower level, such las a basement, sub-basement, or subway; said idler pulley being positioned remote from the vehicle wheels, to permit it to be centered over the openings while the vehicles wheels are still on solid operating terrain.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner. 

1. THE COMBINATION WITH A MOBILE VEHICLE FOR DISPOSAL OF REFUSE, OF THE TYPE COMPRISING A BODY, A CHAMBER, ADAPTED TO STORE PACKED REFUSE, AND PROVIDED WITH CONVENTIONAL RUNNING GEAR, AND A HOPPER, OR BUCKET, JUXTAPOSED TO THE REAR END OF SAID CHAMBER; SAID HOPPER HAVING A REAR OPENING TO RECEIVE THE LOAD, AND A REAR WALL PORTION LOWER THAN THE TOP OF SAID BODY AND ABOVE SAID REAR OPENING; OF A POWER-DRIVEN WINCH ATTACHMENT MOUNTED ON SAID INCLINED WALL PORTION ABOVE SAID REAR OPENING AND LOWER THAN THE TOP OF SAID BODY; AND CABLE MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID WINCH TO BE ACTIVATED THEREBY FOR PULLING SPECIAL INDIVIDUAL CONTAINERS FROM A POSITION ON THE GROUND BEHIND SAID OPENING INTO AN INVERTED POSITION FOR DISCHARGING THE CONTENTS OF THE CONTAINER INTO SAID HOPPER; SAID HOPPER BEING PIVOTED NEAR THE TOP REAR CORNER OF SAID BODY, AND AT THE TOP FRONT CORNER OR POINT OF SAID HOPPER; SAID WINCH HAVING A SEPARATE TENSION CONNECTION PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID BODY FOR ROTATION ABOUT THE SAME AXIS AS SAID HOPPER; WHEREBY THE MECHANICAL LOADS DUE TO TENSION ON THE CABLE ARE TRANSMITTED DIRECTLY THROUGH SAID TENSION CONNECTED TO THE BODY ITSELF AND NOT THROUGH THE HOPPER. 